Chapter 1: The Dawn of a New Life
It's your fault that no one loves you. Annabeth, Ebba, Mum, Paul, The Campers. No one loves you anymore. They fear you. Everyone trying to get close to you is just trying to put up a show so that you don't go crazy and kill them mercilessly like you did Akhlys. You remember how you killed her right? Killing her with her own element. How could you do that? Only a murderer would do that. But you are a murderer aren't you? All you do is kill people. Gabe, Bianca, Zoe, Lee, Castor, Beckendorf, Silena, Luke, Gwen, Leo. How long does the list have to go before it's too long for you? Until you finally break under the guilt you put on yourself? It's your fault. Your fault. Your fault. Your fault. Your fault. Your fault. Your fault.
I tried to tune out the mantra playing in my head on repeat, but it kept pushing itself to the forefront of my mind. I stood from the rough wooden table and walked out of the Dining Pavilion briskly. Mr.D met my eyes as I was walking out and I saw the look that everyone in this camp seemed to share; sympathetic and cautious. But even from the short look in his eyes I could see how much confusion they held. The god of insanity was the only one who knew what was going on inside my head, but he didn't know what caused it or even how long it had been going on. All Dionysus knew was that I was getting progressively worse and worse.
It wasn't hard to notice that I wasn't as fine as I was telling people. The shadows under my eyes were starting to look like bruises with their purple-black hue from lack of sleep. What little time I have away from the camper is riddled with voices telling me everything bad that has happened is my fault and visions of Tartarus that make me wake up screaming with Ebba standing over me. Ebba had come to camp just a few weeks ago and she was already becoming my biggest helper. She woke me up in the middle of the night telling me everything was alright, she forced me to eat at every meal, and if i didn't show up, she would get food for me and force feed me if she had to. She was only thirteen, but she acted like she was older than me sometimes. I had turned eighteen just a few days after she had shown up, and she celebrated with the rest of the campers like she had known me for years. She had been claimed by Poseidon days after that, and I had been ecstatic to have a little sister I could protect and help with sword fighting.
I hadn't been near the water in a long time, and my fading tan was beginning to show it. I kept up with my water powers with the repaired fountain in our cabin; learning to freeze, evaporate and move water without moving a muscle. I always kept Clarisse on her toes while sword fighting, and I managed to teach Ebba in my free time which was increasing rapidly. I went from teaching twelve classes a day to five classes a week. Clarisse took over the beginner classes, Annabeth took over the intermediate classes, and that left me to take the advanced classes. I learned new techniques everyday and I taught them how to execute them. Life was becoming meaningless, and I couldn't stop myself from spiraling downhill slowly. Finally I decided enough was enough and I asked Jason to take over my classes so that I could go home to my mum and Paul. He accepted graciously and Chiron knew I needed to go home. Camp was weighing me down like an anvil was tied around my neck and it was slowly suffocating me.
Ebba couldn't even say goodbye as I loaded my things into the Camp Van that would take me to the city. Her eyes overflowed and salty tears made tracks down her face. I had already said goodbye to the rest of my friends this morning, but Ebba wouldn't separate herself from my side. She gave me one last back breaking hug before I climbed into the van. The drive seemed to drag by until finally we pulled up near a familiar apartment building. I nodded my appreciation to Argus after we had gotten all of my belongings out and I made my way through the lobby of the building up to the blue door that I had missed so much.
I looked through my pockets trying to find my key to the apartment. Eventually I gave up and softly knocked on the door. Seconds later the door opened to show the tired face of Paul Blofis. The lines by his eyes looked more defined and he looked almost as tired as me, but for different reasons.
"Percy! It's so great to see you! Come bring your things inside." He said happily. "Sally, we have a visitor!" He called out to my mum. She came around the corner with the sleeping bundle of my three week old little sister Hannah Grace Blofis. When she met my eyes, her face burst into a smile. She handed Hannah to Paul and pulled me into a warm hug.
"We missed you so much, Percy! How have you been doing?" She asked softly. I knew what she meant. The first thing people usually asked me was how I was handling all the stress of things. It was a nice gesture, but it got annoying when people always treated you like broken glass.
"I've been good. I wasn't very busy at camp anymore, and Ebba is busy most of the time so I was wondering if I could come and stay here again for a little while?" I asked hopefully. I knew the house was tiny and I didn't want to limit any space for my sister. "I'll help take care of Hannah and I won't be a burden I swear." I said thinking that she might be reluctant.
"Percy, honey, you can always stay here, and even though you helping with Hannah would be nice, we would never demand anything of you. You're my son and I will always love you." Mum said and I almost burst with joy.
The day passed quickly and soon it was dinnertime. I had unpacked in my old room that I now shared with Hannah and organized all of her baby things so I wouldn't trip over them when I went to go to bed. We ate dinner in relative silence and I cleaned up all the dishes afterwards. Hannah was asleep in her crib by eight, and I was in bed shortly after her. Hopefully, having someone in the room, no matter how tiny, would help keep the nightmares at bay. He soon let darkness consume him, but only hours later he was awoken by the shrill cry of Hannah. He jumped out of bed and was beside her crib in seconds. He gently picked her up out of her crib and rocked her back in forth until she quieted down again. He heard a quiet sigh behind him and saw his mum looking at Hannah and him with adoration. Paul soon joined her and watched as Hannah fell back to sleep in his arms. Instead of putting her back in her crib, I walked over to my bed and sat against the headboard and held her until dawn when she started to get hungry and his mother took over.
The week passed by until finally Hannah was a month old. He had started to take Hannah on walks with him in central Park whenever he could. Sometimes Annabeth, Grover, Nico, Thalia, or even Clarisse would go with him, but today he was alone. After they held a tiny celebration, I took her out on another walk. Today was a particularly hot day so I just grabbed Hannah and left after telling Paul where I was taking her. These trips were for me too because being in one place for too long started to make me feel suffocated. I found an unoccupied shady spot in the park and sat Hannah in my lap as we looked at everything around us. Hannah started to get cranky after a while so he decided it was time to leave. Just as I had gotten to my feet a man in a black so dark it seemed to suck in all light from around it appeared next to me. His eyes were pure black like a demons, and I was immediately on edge. My arms around the sleeping Hannah tightened the slightest, and I started to put myself in a defensive position so that if the man attacked I could protect her better.
"Always so humble; not even thinking before putting her life before yours. You are just what I need for my army." The man spoke with such certainty that I couldn't help but start to back away. If he was going to try and take me by force I would have to get Hannah as far away as I could. "Oh goodness, I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Chaos the origination of the universe." Before I could even make a solid thought, Chaos moved his hand to Hannah's head and she disappeared in a flash of light. I grabbed Chaos' arm that had seconds ago made Hannah disappear. I was about to go on a rampage, but Chaos made an Iris Message appear that showed the still sleeping Hannah in my surprised mother's arms. I let go of Chaos' arms after seeing Hannah was safe.
"How can I be of service to you, Lord Chaos? I doubt you came just to introduce yourself." I said quietly trying to forget I had almost assaulted the creator of the entire universe. My thoughts drifted back to what he had said before about being in his army, but I doubt he actually meant me.
"But I did, Perseus. That's the whole reason I came down to Earth. I would like you to join my army in the Elite Guard. They call themselves the Angels and they are pretty much the Assassins of my army. We keep the universe safe from harm and danger, and rid the world of evil. As of now there are eight members of the Guard, and you would become the ninth. Do you accept my offer? You would have to swear to never tell a soul what your true identity is or where you are going. It is for security purposes that no one other than the Guard knows the location of the planet we will be going to." He explained.
I thought over the offer for a few moments before a problem popped made itself known.
"What about my friends and family on this planet? What will I tell them if I accepted your offer?" I asked. I couldn't just leave my family and friends that had been with me almost my entire life. What would happen to them if I just disappeared?
"I will explain to everyone what you have accepted to do, but they cannot know anything about where you are going or what you have agreed to do. No one can know who you are, not even your parents or sisters. So, do you accept?" He explained to me. I'll have to get used to him being able to read every thought that passes through my mind. After a few moments, I nodded my head, agreeing to his offer. He smiled slightly before speaking again. "Since no one can know your old identity, you need to put these on and choose a new name unless you want to be called new guy for eternity." He said while handing me a pitch black cloak and a black mask. I slipped the cloak and mask on and noticed that they were both extremely comfortable. The hood only covered the top of my face, and the mask went over my eyes. Chaos looked at me questionably for a moment but nothing happened. He continued staring at me for another minute until finally I spoke up.
"What? Is something wrong with it?" I asked questionably.
"No, it's just that usually the cloak will change colors for the owner. Unless…" Chaos trailed off before a look of realisation came over his face. "Perseus, you are The Lost One. Centuries ago there were exactly ten Elite members. The Lead Assassin was said to have died, therefore we called him The Lost One. I waited for him to be reincarnated, but I could never find him. You must be the reincarnation, that's why the cloak didn't change colors. We will have to wait until you get your wings and protector to know for sure. I will explain all of these things later, Perseus, but for now you must pick a new name." He explained quickly after seeing my look of confusion.
I thought for a moment of what I wanted my new name to be. Nothing related to the sea because that would be a given to anyone that suspected it was me. I thought carefully for a few moments before I thought of the perfect name.
"Alastair." I said.
"Protector of the people. A fitting name for you. Well let's go, Alastair, there is much preparation we must do." He said as a portal appeared. Here I come new life, hopefully it's better than the last. I stepped through the portal and everything went black.